Shadows
by citrinestone1000
Summary: What was Snape thinking of when Dumbledore was examining Mrs Norris in “Chamber of Secrets”.


"The tipoff Dumbledore's long, crooked nose was barely an inch from Mrs. Norris's fur. He was looking at her closely through his half-moon spectacles, his long fingers gently prodding and poking. Professor McGonagall was bent almost as close, her eyes narrowed. b**Snape loomed behind them, half in shadow, wearing a most peculiar expression: it was as through he was trying hard not to smile./b** And Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making suggestion." pgs 107-108 UK edition

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Severus stepped back into the shadows trying hard not to laugh at the sight of Dumbledore poking at Mrs Norris. The sight itself was funny, but so was the memory that came to mind.

Not every memory of Lily, or his childhood was tragic; there were plenty of happy times he had with his best friend, and the sight of the petrified Mrs Norris took him back to one of them.

"I saw the cat go in there," Lily pointed to an abandoned mill. "Let's go."

"Are you sure you want to go? I hear it's haunted," Severus said with a half smile.

"Stop your foolishness." Lily grabbed his wrist to lead the way.

"Foolishness? You sound like my mum."

"Then you better behave." Lily tightened her grip and smiled at Severus as she led the way.

"Why do you want to follow the cat, when you don't even like them?"

"It's not that I don't like them. They just make me sneeze. Itch." Lily stopped. "And…"

"Cry?"

"They don't make me cry. My eyes just get red and watery."

"Like I said, they make you cry."

"No they don't—" Lily turned her head to see the Siamese cat they were following staring at them. It seemed to be listening to their little argument.

The cat meowed.

"It looks like it's staring at us." Lily said.

"I think it is. Kind of like Mrs Norris."

"No. Not at all like her. She has a creepy stare. This cat seems sweet."

"Why?" Severus said trying to free his wrist from Lily's tight grip.

"I don't know. It has a nice face."

Lily continued to talk, but Severus wasn't listening and was busy rubbing his wrist and looking at the light red mark Lily's grip had left.

"Let's go," he said, only to notice that Lily was following the cat into the mill. He quickly followed her.

Since the doors were boarded up she climbed through a broken window.

"Be careful with the glass!"

"I know! And would you please hurry up."

Once the children were inside the mill they went searching for the cat that was nowhere in sight.

"We're not going to find it," Severus said.

"You scared?" Lily turned and smiled at her friend.

"No. But I don't think we're alone."

"Of course not. There is a cat somewhere here."

Severus took a deep breath, and looked around to see more broken windows, a ladder that seemed to lead nowhere and some debris he couldn't describe.

"I thought I saw a shadow of a man."

Lily rolled her eyes and continued to look for the cat.

"I think I found it," she said as she walked toward something that looked like a fallen wardrobe. "I think it's in here. I see something furry."

Lily knelt down and started petting what she believed was the cat, and started singing a song about a soft kitty. She suddenly stopped and started screaming.

Severus was shocked, and didn't know what to do. The only movement Severus made was to open his eyes wider at the sight of Lily screaming.

"The cat isn't moving. I think it's dead," she said in a whisper after she had calmed down.

Severus finally walked toward Lily and knelt beside her. He looked closely at what she was petting and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Lily asked, frowning at Severus.

Severus reached down and pulled out what Lily was petting in the wardrobe. Then he showed it to Lily, who also started to laugh.

"It looks like the faux stole that Petunia and me use to play dress up with."

Both Lily and Severus started to laugh.

"Kind of looks like Mrs Norris fur," Lily said. "I think we probably scared the Siamese cat away."

Severus stood up and offered his hand to Lily. The children continued laughing as they exited out the window, and stopped when they saw a man with thick black frame glasses and a tan suit looking at them.

"What are you children doing here?" the man asked as he put his hands on his hips. "It's not safe. Plus this is private property."

Lily and Severus looked at the man and then at each other and started to run. Once they were far enough away, Severus turned his head, but he no longer saw the man; instead he saw the Siamese cat which kept on staring at them.

The crowd was gathering around the petrified Mrs Norris, and she did look like the faux fur stole Lily had petted, which was also something that they often laughed about, especially when they would run into Mrs Norris. Lily would often comment on how she wished Mrs Norris was a faux fur stole.

Severus thought that he had been quiet too long and lost in a cheerful memory. He finally cleared his thoughts and returned to the present.

"If I might speak, Headmaster."

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A/N The last line is taken from page 109 UK edition of Chamber of Secrets. Thanks for anyone reading, reviewing or just stopping by. Also please go to my profile for a link to some art work for this story.


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